


Some Counsel for the Counselor

by technicallynotalizard



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Agender Character, Friendship, Gen, Nonbinary Character, One Shot, Past Ezri Dax/Julian Bashir, Past Jadzia Dax/Worf - Freeform, Past Relationship(s), PoV Worf, This is an ezri realizes she's nonbinary fic, also Jadzia was genderfluid and you can't stop me, featuring a helping of Worf being a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:55:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29612517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/technicallynotalizard/pseuds/technicallynotalizard
Summary: Pronouns had never confused Dax like this before. But after a multitude of lifetimes, constant flux seemed to be getting to the symbiont. Lela had been a girl; Tobin hadn’t been fond of gender at all, but didn’t mind traditionally masculine identifiers and never thought about it past that; Emony had also been a girl, Audrid too; Torias was the first host to really feel like a man, and what an experience that had been; Joran and Curzon had also both been men; Jadzia, well she had only ever confessed to Worf that she liked being a woman, but sometimes wished she could be a man too. Even for her, though, it had always been clear at any given moment exactly which gender she wanted to embrace. Ezri however, couldn’t make heads or tails of gender. The Trill would use female identifiers most frequently, but couldn’t shake the unease being called a woman caused. But masculine identifiers were no good either. None of it felt right. None of it made any sense.
Relationships: Ezri Dax & Worf
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	Some Counsel for the Counselor

“Worf, I need help,” Ezri pleaded through the viewscreen, lips forming a pout that would have been both endearing and irritating on Jadzia, but just confused Worf to see on Ezri.

“Ezri,” The Klingon huffed, attempting to appear as cross as he knew he should feel, “I don’t know what time it is on Deep Space Nine, but here on Q'onoS, it is 0400 hours. I hope this is an emergency.”

“It is,” Ezri whined, dragging out the S sound, “I can’t- I can’t take it anymore! I feel like I can’t figure out what’s up and what’s down. I’m so confused and disoriented and- ugh!”

Worf growled under his breath. Since their awkward acquaintanceship blossomed into an awkward, but strong friendship, Ezri often came to him like this, confused and emotional and desperate for something in the galaxy to make sense. Why he had to be the one to ground Dax, he wasn’t sure. Maybe it was the bit of Jadzia still alive that knew he could be trusted. “Has your space-sickness returned? I thought it was getting better.”

“No, no, it’s my pronouns again,” Ezri began to look sheepish, “Kira- she didn’t mean to upset me. A waiter at the new Andorian restaurant across from Garak’s old storefront thought we were a couple when we went to try it out the other night and she said, ‘oh no, Ezri’s not my _girl_ friend’ and she’s right, I’m not, but the first thing that popped into my stupid head was, ‘why would she say _girl_ friend?’ And I didn’t realize for about a minute that I am, in fact, a _girl_. Ugh, I feel so stupid!”

Worf was silent for a moment, imagining he could hear the whirr of the station through the comm unit. His mind flashed to those moments, alone with Jadzia, where she asked him quietly, more anxious than he had ever seen her, if he would please call her his husband tonight. “Are you a girl?” He asked carefully.

Ezri turned sharply to stare at him, clearly shocked, “What? Of course I am! I mean, I have to be, right? I’m definitely not a man. So I’m a woman. Simple. Or, it should be.”

“Not necessarily,” Worf sighed. He doubted he would be able to go back to sleep any time soon, even if Ezri let him go with enough time for it to be worth trying to get more rest, “You know those aren’t your only options.”

Ezri, for a moment, looked ready to pass out, “Oh, Worf,” The Trill sunk low in the chair, “I’m an idiot.”

“You have nine lifetimes to sort out, Ezri. No one blames you for being confused,” He tried to sound comforting, rather than his default of mildly irritated. “But you are your own person. You are not Jadzia, or Curzon, or Lela. You are Ezri.”

“But I’m also Dax, and Dax has always been binary before.” Ezri countered, trying not to sound childish.

“Dax has never been Ezri before, though. And the person you were before Dax may have been a woman, that doesn’t mean you have to be. You created someone new when you joined with the symbiont.” Worf cleared his throat, stifling his inner discomfort for Ezri’s sake.

Ezri nodded, processing the idea of being nonbinary. It was fairly common for joined Trills to have complicated relationships with gender, but most symbionts adopted the gender of their host. It was rare for the union of the two to change the host’s gender identity. “I- I always just assumed I was a girl though. I mean, I was never super feminine, but being called a woman didn’t send me into a tailspin.”

“It does now,” Worf insisted, “You don’t have to be a woman if you don’t want to be one.”

“Then what am I, Worf? Who am I?” Ezri groaned.

“You are Ezri Dax. You are not a woman, you are not a man. You don’t have to have any gender at all, if none suit you.” Worf longed for Jadzia, who always knew herself so well, who always knew exactly what she wanted. He imagined Ezri was longing for the exact same thing. It must be confusing, to remember Jadzia’s sense of self-assured-ness, but have none of it.

“Worf,” Ezri looked up, now unsure but excited, “You’re a genius and I don’t know what I’d do without you. Would you- would you mind using gender neutral pronouns for me? I don’t particularly care which ones, I just- I think I might explode next time someone calls me something feminine.”

“If it bothers you that much, you should consider asking Kira too, and Dr. Bashir,” Worf stated plainly. “Right, yeah. What will they think?” A new wave of panic rushed over Ezri, “I mean, Julian will understand, I think he tried to get me to see that I’m not a girl, before we broke up. But he’s…” Their voice trailed off, “I’ve never met a nonbinary Bajoran though. What will Nerys say?”

“If she says anything other than that she is happy for you, I will come back to Deep Space Nine specifically to teach her a lesson,” Worf growled. Kira had been important to Dax, and their friendship had grown even stronger when Ezri came to the station. Worf had hoped she would take Sisko’s place in Ezri’s heart when the Captain vanished, but it seemed he had filled the role of mentor and confidant. He couldn’t decide if he was comfortable with it.

“Thank you,” Ezri giggled a little. Kira wasn’t afraid of anything, so an angry Klingon wouldn’t phase her, but it was nice to know that Worf was so ready to defend them. “But I’d rather not have my two best friends attacking each other.” They paused, then gasped, “Oh, I just realized what you said! Worf, why did you answer my transmission if it’s 0400 over there?”

“You needed me,” He answered simply, as if that explained everything.

Ezri’s features split into a fond smile, “I do need you. But I should let you get some rest. Thank you for talking this through with me.”

They said their goodbyes and the transmission ended, but Worf didn’t even bother to try sleeping. His mind swirled with memories of Jadzia.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, this fic is a bit of a love letter to the awkward friendship Worf and Ezri developed towards the end of season 7. I can't imagine them not being close after everything they went through together, even if it is incredibly awkward for Worf. He loves them (platonically) so he puts up with their neediness while they're sorting themself out.
> 
> I'm imagining this taking place fairly recently after the finale, maybe when the dust has just started to settle after the war. Ezri is finally getting the chance to explore who they are as Dax. And no, joining didn't make them nonbinary, they just never really thought about it until now. They're very young, okay? Self-exploration is weird like that.


End file.
